hYsTeRIa
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Asthar decides to work at an asylum following the end of a war so he can still help people. But coping with the fact that his pupil was stuck in said place, and seeing horrid relations between his boss and other patients was not in his job description. He decides to deal with it though, patiently and slowly. And he's hoping things will work out miraculously as he does just that.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the Last Story.**

 **Warning: Asylum!AU, Asylum!Last Story characters, possible dark themes, violence, possible pairings**

 **Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope that you read, review and enjoy! Thanks! XD**

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 **hYsTeRIa**

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 _ **1\. Reunite**_

Asthar walked through the asylum, the click-clack of Calista's heels echoing through the hall as she showed him around the place. He'd been hired to work here (thank goodness he managed to get a job after that war in the Empire as one of the knights fighting in it against the Gurak) and right now his boss, the young Calista Arganan, was basically giving him his orientation right now.

The walls were grey or white or black. Nothing else. If anything, with the dim lighting included, Asthar would have thought that the place was a haunted house if not for the occasional sight of some patients strapped onto gurneys just outside their room as their caretakers tried to push them into their rooms, or the few times where there were a few patients just leaning against the wall, staring at him.

It was unnerving, yes, but Asthar figured he could handle it. Nothing worse than seeing destruction in war, in his opinion.

"And..." Calista stopped in front of a door. "This leads to Therius' room. He'll be the patient you're taking care of mainly, Asthar."

Asthar nodded. "Understood, Ms. Calista..." He trailed off as Calista opened the door. There was a wooden sword, as well as a training dummy of sorts leaning against the wall to the left, a bed in the right hand corner as well as a night stand with a lamp on it. He did notice his patient until he noticed movement at a desk nearby, a young man seated in a chair. He was furiously scribbling things down in a diary, reading the words aloud.

"Day six. No escape yet. I can't fit in the...air vents. Too big. Have to find a way out of the castle before the Gurak destroy Lazulis! I can't bear with them keeping me sealed in the castle..."

Calista grimaced at the sight, before looking to Asthar. "Therius suffers a unique delusion. He believes he's a Lazulis Knight, and although he truly is, he hasn't quite...snapped out of the war despite it ending. He was captured and tortured by the Gurak during his time in the war, and I believe that is what has caused his delusions to happen. Therius believes that he's trapped in Lazulis Castle by the Gurak so that he can't go outside and help the people of Lazulis get to safety.."

Asthar frowned as he looked to Therius, who had finished writing and just took notice of them. He remembered seeing the white-haired man fighting alongside him some time ago. It was unfortunate, however, that they would have to reunite here of all places.

Therius stood, trying to straighten his clothing (loose trousers and shirt) as he bowed. "Lady Calista...General Asthar." He spoke, looking up at them as he straightened himself. "I apologize for not having noticed your presence just now."

Asthar straightened himself, making eye contact with the young man. "It is fine, Therius." He responded quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"Anxious." The younger man answered with no hesitation. "I can't...I can't just stand here, I can't just sit here, I have to protect them, General! I can't..." He shook his head, burying his head in his hands and shaking his head a little. "If this is meant to be torture, they are torturing me to the core. I can't stand it..."

Therius sounded like he was coughing at first. Asthar hesitantly took a few paces closer and soon realized the younger man was crying. Tears dripped down his face, making water stains on his white shirt, his entire being trembling from the pressure, from the delusion, from the fear and nightmare his mind was trapped in.

Asthar could hear Calista grimace. "We should just leave him for now." She spoke. The tone of her voice within those words made Asthar realize that it wasn't the first time Therius had broken down like this. It could have been the fifth time, or the tenth, or the hundredth, and Calista was apparently sick of it. "I'll show you to the rest of the patients."

Asthar shook his head, approaching Therius despite Calista's words. "Therius?"

Therius looked up at him, emerald eyes wide as he tried to wipe his tears with his bare hands. "I-I'm sorry General," The younger man whispered, gazing up at him, "I..."

Asthar gently took a handkerchief out of his pocket before handing to him. "Here, Therius. You'll need it more than I do."

Therius smiled a little, relief crossing his face as he dabbed the handkerchief at his eyes. "Thank you, General."

Asthar smiled back at him quietly, before feeling Calista glare at him from behind. "I need to go Therius, but I promise I'll be back soon."

"Understood, General." Therius straightened himself, nodding. "I will talk to you later."

"I'll see you later."

Asthar left the room, followed by Calista, and the asylum owner shut the door to Therius' room (which was labeled as 670) before she glared at him.

"You shouldn't have done that." She spoke. "Are you trying to reinforce his delusions?"

Asthar shook his head. "No, Calista, I-I wasn't—"

He went silent as soon as Calista glared daggers at him. "Don't do anything that's going to give them any false hope and make them fall further into their delusions. Especially Therius. I know you know him well, and I thought I'd place him with you because it would be relieving, but maybe you'll end up having the opposite effect and—"

Melodious laughter interrupted the two, and Asthar looked to his left to see none other than an older man, his wavy blond hair cascading down his back in disarray as he held a cleaver with one hand. Blood dripped from the cleaver, and the left sleeve of his loose white shirt was blooming with bloodstains.

Calista growled, summoning holy magic before shooting it straight at him, knocking the cleaver out of his hand. The man shrieked, putting his hands to his face as he leaned against the wall, sliding downwards into a sitting position. He cowered before her as she approached him quickly, the _click-clack_ of her heels echoing. Asthar could not get himself to move towards or away from the sight. He felt frozen, unsure of what to do, what to say or think, stuck staring at the horrendous sight.

"Uncle." Calista hissed at the man, glowering at him. "How the hell did you get out of your room _and_ find a cleaver? Answer me, now!"

The older man began to laugh again in response, banging his head against the wall gently, and Asthar finally found himself willing enough to move again as Calista motioned to him.

"Restrain him." She handed Asthar a white jacket with all the laces. Asthar winced—it was a straitjacket—but he quickly did so, shoving the older man's arms into the sleeves and doing up the laces, rendering him unable to use his arms as Calista pulled him up. The young asylum owner glared up at her uncle.

"You are going back to your room." She hissed at him, before looking to Asthar. "Bring my uncle back to his room and then you can go to your own room and get some rest. Your duties officially start tomorrow. My uncle's room number is 666."

Asthar nodded, gently gripping Arganan by the shoulder and leading him down the hall. He thought he'd passed by a room labeled as 666 earlier...

Yes, there it was. Asthar used his keycard to unlock the door, gently leading Arganan inside. He frowned, looking up at the older man. Should he undo the straitjacket? But what if Calista's uncle (the man he'd just led to his room) began to be hostile? But he had no weapon, though. But then again

"You can just leave if you want. I know you want to." The straitjacketed man spoke up, making eye contact with Asthar. He sounded a little sad, and Asthar couldn't help but pity him. If Calista always acted so coldly to her uncle (his name was Lucius Arganan, right? That had to be it—Asthar heard that the man got terribly injured during the war and it affected him horribly), then it was no wonder that he was so sad, and not just because he wasn't quite right in the head.

Asthar shook his head, closing the door behind them quietly. "I'm sorry for what happened to you just now." He spoke quietly.

Arganan seemed to smile sadly, looking down. "Not your fault. My niece and I never got along, we were always...sad together like that, with so much yelling and screaming and hurting. I hurt her first. I deserve to be hurt in return."

Asthar gazed at the older man's disheveled appearance, and then thought of Therius. Did Calista treat all of the patients here so coldly? It didn't feel right.

He gently turned Arganan around, beginning to unlace the straitjacket. "Don't tell Calista I'm doing this for you, okay?" He spoke softly. "I doubt she wants me to do this..."

Arganan chuckled softly as the lacings came undone and Asthar helped him slip out of the jacket. "I don't think she really cares that much..."

Asthar didn't really respond to that, helping the older man straighten himself. He looked around the bare looking room (a dresser and a bed nearby, both nailed to the floor it seemed, with a small bathroom attached to the room) and then noticed a hairbrush on top of the dresser. He grabbed it, gently beginning to brush the older man's hair in hopes that it would help soothe him. Besides, Arganan looked like he hadn't brushed his hair in days and it would probably help him in the long run in some way, just a little bit.

The former general heard the older man hum softly in delight. He probably liked having his hair brushed by others. Asthar added that to a mental list of notes about the patients he guessed he'd end up taking care of while working here, figuring that knowing such things would help him somehow. After finishing brushing the hair, he then figured that now would be a good time to leave, seeing the older man become calm during the hair brushing.

"I should go now..." He trialed off awkwardly, moving to the door. Arganan did not run after him or give him a pleading look. Instead, he looked like he understood, and tilted his head quietly as if to say something.

"Goodnight." The older man mumured, before giggling softly. "D-don't let the b-bed bugs bite! Or venus flytraps! Or something..."

Asthar nodded quickly, opening the door. "Goodnight, Arganan. Sweet dreams." He managed before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. He exhaled slowly, feeling himself bite his lower lip softly as he thought quietly.

Things here at the asylum were certainly going to not be boring. That was obvious. But coping with the fact that his pupil was stuck in here, as well as seeing that there was some ripped-up bond between Calista and her uncle that Asthar felt like wanting to put back together was not in his job description. He'd deal with it though, patiently and slowly.

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 **Author note: Thank you for reading this very first chapter! XD I'm just wondering—should I put OCs in the fic or should I just keep it to canon characters? XD If I do put in OCs, I'd put in approx. 5 of them AT MOST. Let me know in the reviews! Thanks for reading! XDD**


	2. Introductions

**_2\. Introductions_**

Asthar sat in the mess hall where most (if not all patients) and staff ate for their meals. Most patients, however, ate breakfast in their rooms, but Therius did not have to. It was best to not have Therius stuck in his room all the time, to keep him in a better mood than he was the previous day when they first reunited.

Asthar didn't feel too hungry at the moment, so he just helped himself to some cereal. Meanwhile, Therius was eating away at a plate of breakfast sausage and eggs with some fruit and toast at the side.

Therius looked up from his food. "General?" He spoke up quietly. No matter how many times earlier Asthar had tried to request him to be less formal when it was just the two of them, Therius did it anyway (just like what he did when he was still right in the head and both of them were real knights). "You're not hungry?"

Asthar shook his head. "No, Therius." He admitted. "Not really."

Before Therius could respond, the two heard a loud yell.

"DAGRAN!" A young man, with blue eyes and brown hair (wearing the uniform of a patient, Asthar noticed), rushed across the mess hall, nearly tackling another man who looked slightly older than him as he hugged him tightly. "Y-you came to visit! How are you!?"

Dagran smiled, chuckling slightly and hugging the younger man in return. "I'm fine, Zael. Just got back from some mercenary work outside this place. What about you?"

Zael smiled, looking up at him excitedly, the expression on his face similar to a sugar-high five-year old. "I-I'm well, thanks! I've been drawing lots lately! Mirania really liked the drawing I gave her—I tried to draw a bird for her. And then I tried to draw Syrenne and Lowell together, but I forgot Lowell doesn't have a moustache but has stubble, and..."

As the two kept talking, Asthar looked to Therius. "Therius?"

Therius blinked, looking to him. "Yes, General?"

"Is the one called Zael live here, too?"

Therius nodded. "Yes. He hit his head in an accident and now believes he's a five year old and reliving his childhood, believing that his entire village was burnt down and that he was the only survivor. He thinks he got here because Calista found him and took him in, so he respects her even when she is cold to him at times."

Asthar frowned. "Did Calista truly find him and take him in? Is that how he actually got here?"

Therius shook his head. "No, General. Dagran brought him here, hoping that Zael would find peace and happiness at this place. Although it has helped his mood significantly, he's shown no sign of recovering from his injury and escaping that delusion." He looked around, wincing as he noticed two Gurak men (who looked rather like twins, Asthar noticed) that were wearing staff uniforms. "Th-the Gurak..."

Asthar gently took his hand in his. "Therius, it's alright. I'm here with you. They won't hurt you."

Therius shook his head. "I-I'm not afraid of that. I just...wonder about the people outside...I don't want them to be harmed, but as long as I'm in here..." Worry laced his voice at that.

Asthar raised one of his hands, stroking Therius' hair quietly, remembering how fluffy it was back then. It was still fluffy now, but back then it felt like he was petting an energetic cat, bundles of excitement within. Now he felt like he was petting a fluffy but sad little puppy. He took a deep breath, looking into his eyes.

"Therius." He spoke quietly. "They're in a better state than you think. They're...the Gurak that is, they're not going around attacking people, last time I was outside."

He knew this was against Calista telling him not to reinforce Therius' delusion, but sometimes you had no choice but to play along. Now was one of those times.

Therius' eyes immediately lit wtih hope, and he hugged the former General tightly, suddenly.

"Thank you." Therius whispered, voice nearly hoarse. "Thank you."

Asthar smiled, hugging him back gently. "You're welcome, Therius. You should eat the rest of your breakfast now, so it doesn't get cold. It's warm for a reason!"

Therius smiled slightly, nodding and returning to the task of eating, just as Dagran and Zael approached them.

"Hiiii!" Zael nearly shrieked, hugging Asthar. Asthar gasped (he had NOT been expecting this) and hugged him gently in return. "I-I'm Zael! Nice to meet you, sir!"

"N-nice to meet you too, Zael—I'm Asthar, I just started working here yesterday." Asthar managed. "C-could you let go a little bit? I like hugs, but would prefer not being choked."

Zael nodded, letting go of him. "Okay, Asthar." He still had a smile on his face, but seemed slightly calmer about that.

Dagran chuckled, grinning. "Sorry about that. Zael gets pretty curious about new people that end up here. I'm Dagran, Zael's friend. I work here at the Asylum part time, when I'm not doing mercenary stuff on the side. Nice to meet you, Asthar."

Asthar smiled. Thank goodness there were others that were friendly (Calista hadn't helped much with that)! "Nice to meet you too, Dagran." He blinked. "Erm, so, what do you do here? You said you were only here part-time..."

Dagran nodded. "Yeah, I am. I help Horace, another one of the staff here, take care of Zael. Horace got all worn out yesterday apparently so I thought it would be good for me to drop in since I already finished some mercenary stuff." He winced. "Wish I could come here full-time but Calista won't let me. Dunno why."

"Sorry to hear that."

Dagran grinned a little, shrugging. "It's fine. I still get to be with Zael more often than visitors, at least." He looked to the clock. "Ah, Zael, we should get going for now."

Zael grinned nodding. "Okay!" He started walking off, but then turned and waved at Asthar and Therius. "See you later, Asthar! Good morning, Therius!"

Therius smiled, looking up from his finished breakfast and looking to Zael. "Morning, Zael."

Asthar waved. "See you later, Dagran and Zael!"

As the two walked off, Asthar looked to Therius. "You know them well, Therius?"

Therius nodded, standing and picking up his empty tray and Asthar followed suite, the two putting them away on a rack nearby. "Yes, General, I do..." He smiled slightly. "Zael wants to be a knight. A true knight. So we've talked a lot about knighthood..." He then frowned. "Lady Calista has forbidden him from getting any knight armor or even a real sword, though, just like me. I believe it's due to the Gurak truly running this place in the shadows...making sure no one starts a rebellion and tries to break out of the castle."

Asthar frowned, nodding. "I see." It probably wasn't due to Gurak controlling the place, because in reality Calista controlled this place, this asylum. But Asthar had a pretty good theory why Calista wouldn't give them real swords—out of fear of endangering other patients and staff. "Therius, I should tell you this. You don't necessarily need the best armor or a real sword to be a knight. A knight's duty lies above that, the duty to protect. As long as you have that in your heart, you are knight already inside. The outside doesn't matter when it comes to that."

Therius nodded, smiling gently again. "Thank you for reminding me, General. I will remember it."

Asthar smiled. "You're welcome, Therius."

That was when a young, black-haired woman came rushing over to them.

"E-excuse me?" She spoke, worry covering her expression. "My name is Mirania...H-have you seen a patient, with wavy blond hair? His name is Lucius Argan—"

"Arganan?" Asthar finished in a heartbeat.

Mirania nodded. "Yes. I've been looking for him, but it seems that he's escaped his room last night!"

Asthar looked to Therius. "Therius..."

Therius nodded. "We should find him, General. Quickly."


End file.
